Olympic Swimming Top Races, No. 7: Ryan Murphy, Thomas Ceccon Will Face Off Again in 100 Backstroke
The Olympic swimming competition will begin Saturday, July 27, with the best swimmers in the world competing for medals in 28 individual races and seven relays over nine days of competition. Before that, Swimming World will count down the top-10 most anticipated races of the Games, where we can expect to find the best races and where the most decorated athletes will be racing for history.
Three years ago in Tokyo, Ryan Murphy of the United States took bronze in the men’s 100 backstroke while Italy’s Thomas Ceccon was fourth, with only a pair of Russians, Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, ahead of them. Russian swimmers have been almost completely absent from international racing since, and during that time, Murphy and Ceccon have become the world’s leading duo in the 100 back.
At the 2022 World Championships, Murphy was in line to win his first individual world title, only for Ceccon to blast ahead on the second lap and come to the wall in 51.60, knocking a quarter-second off Murphy’s world record. Murphy swam his best time in years at 51.97, so he could only give his Italian rival credit and accept the silver medal.
One year afterward, however, the American got back on top. This time, Ceccon was actually ahead of Murphy at the halfway point, although Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk and China’s Xu Jiayu were even quicker to the halfway point. Murphy has the best underwater kickout of any backstroker in the world, and he used that weapon to take the lead, only for Ceccon to seemingly inch ahead as the competitors approach the wall. But Murphy had one final lunge to get to the wall in 52.22, five hundredths ahead of Ceccon’s 52.27.
What will be the order of finish in Tokyo? Can anyone break up the duo that seems set for another 1-2 finish? It will not be the Russians, with few swimmers (and no backstrokers) receiving invitations to the Games as neutral athletes. Will anyone get under 52 seconds and possibly challenge Ceccon’s global mark?
Heading into the Games, Murphy is the early clubhouse leader in the 100 backstroke, having clocked 52.22, equal to his Worlds winning time, in taking the win at the U.S. Olympic Trials. But he has plenty of competitors right on his heels: Greece’s Apostolos Christou clocked 52.23 at the European Championships to move to second in the world. Russian teenager Miron Lifintsev, who ranks third globally at 52.34, will not be in Paris, but Xu will. The Chinese veteran who won world titles in 2017 and 2019 and took silver behind Murphy at the 2016 Games owns a season-best of 52.39.
Italy’s Thomas Ceccon — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Ceccon was already selected onto the Italian Olympic team when he went 52.43 at the Sette Colli meet while Hunter Armstrong is another key player who figures to make his way into podium contention. Armstrong has been the bronze medalist in the 100 back at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, and with Murphy and Ceccon both missing the edition held earlier this year, Armstrong claimed gold. His top time this year is 52.68, and he edged out Jack Aikins for the second American spot in this event behind Murphy. Armstrong has been as quick as 51.98 in his career, tied for No. 6 all-time.
The list of Paris attendees who have broken 53 so far in 2024 includes Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan, who knocked off Liam Tancock’s long-standing national record at his country’s national championship meet, as well as Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez, Greece’s Evangelos Makrygiannis, South Africa’s Pieter Coetzee and the French duo of Mewen Tomac and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard.
There are only six active swimmers who have ever captured World Championship or Olympic medals in the 100 back: Murphy, Xu, Ceccon, Armstrong, Gonzalez and Christou, with the latter two winning their honors behind Armstrong at the February edition of Worlds. Masiuk has also reached international podiums in the 50 back, as has Coetzee in the 200 back. We also cannot forget about Hungary’s Hubert Kos, who finished seventh in the event at Worlds last year before upsetting Murphy in the 200 back.
But even with plenty of contenders, expect this to come down to Murphy, 29, and Ceccon, 23, for gold and silver yet again. Murphy will start strong and explode off the turn as always before trying to fight off the Italian who took away his world record down the stretch.
